The Mystery of the Disappearing Friends

Written by Hannah Yorke Gambhir (then age 8)

It was a darkHalloween andGeorge and Bess had come over to see if Nancy was ready. Nancy liked detective stories so she was dressed as a detective. Bess was dressed as a big brown dog and George was dressed up as an orange fat cat.

The three friends went outside to start their trick-or-treating. After Nancy, Bess and George finished on Pumpkin Drive they met Nate the Great. Nate was dressed up as a pancake. His dog Sludge was dressed up as some syrup. Nancy invited Nate the Great and his dog Sludge to join them. They went and knocked on Mrs. Washington’s door. She gave out the best treats. She gave them ice cream sundaes with Oreo crumbs on top. Sludge got some dog treats.

They left the house and Nancy asked Nate the Great which house he wanted to go to next. She realized when he didn’t answer that he was GONE!

Nancy, Bess and George looked around for Nate the Great. They looked in a circle all around them. Nancy saw a candy arrow pointing forward. George picked it up and ate it. Nancy said, “Stop eating that George. That is a clue!”

They found more candy arrows leading them to Bat Avenue. All three girls fell over Jigsaw Jones who was dressed as a magician. They got up and invited him to come trick-or-treating with them. They went to Miss Leaveree’s house and got some cranberries (yuck).

There was a big blue puff of smoke. The girls jumped and screamed. They were so scared! When the blue smoke had cleared Jigsaw Jones was GONE! Left behind was a trail of puzzle pieces.

This time George did not eat the clue. Bess picked the pieces up when they were following it. When they got to the end of the trail she said, “I gathered up the pieces so we can make the puzzle now.” The puzzle was a picture of a haunted house. The haunted house was brown and had broken shutters. On the haunted house were cobwebs and spiders in a few of them.

They saw Cam Jansen dressed as a bumblebee and asked her if she could take a picture of the creepy haunted house with her mental camera. Cam said, “Sure why not.” After she had taken the picture Nancy asked Bess what was taking her so long. Bess said “I am drawing a picture of the creepy haunted house just in case.” The four friends went to Mrs. Moon and got three gummy worms, seven pieces of gum and one chocolate bar. When the detective (Nancy), dog (Bess) and the cat (George) and a bumblebee (Cam Jansen) left the house a big gust of wind blew and Cam Jansen lifted of the ground and went with the wind. When she was out of site, a crumpled up note came falling down. George caught the note and it said this “You saw the puzzle picture. Now go to that place.”

The three girls were shocked as they ran to the haunted house to see what was there. When the three kids got there they were even more shocked than they were before because they saw Nate the Great, Jigsaw Jones and Cam Jansen holding up a sign that said Happy Halloween! They all went inside and had the BEST Halloween party ever!